Phantom of the Galleria

by Sebastian Gregory

It's the summer of 1986, and the Crestfield Galleria is the place to be. Tiffany Carter works at Tendance, the trendiest boutique in the mall, and dreams of escaping her small town to study fashion in New York. When strange incidents begin to ripple through the Galleria after hours, her part-time job turns into a full-time nightmare.

Tiffany assumed rumors of a Phantom stalking the Galleria were just an urban legend meant to scare new employees. Now she feels it too.

Someone is watching... following... waiting.

When the body count begins to rise, Tiffany realizes the Galleria isn't just a hangout. It's a hunting ground.

She must uncover the truth before she becomes the Phantom's next victim.

172 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 19, 2026

About the author

Sebastian Gregory grew up in Los Angeles, California, where he fell under the spell of 1990s horror and never escaped its grip. Today, he channels that lifelong obsession into writing teen-focused, nostalgia-driven thrillers reminiscent of the books that once kept him turning pages until dawn. When not writing, Sebastian can be found devouring books, watching movies, or plotting his next travel adventure. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his family and pets. We Know Your Secret is his debut novel.

Reviews

[Michelle Barker]

A trip back into the 80s. The stores and the music brought back memories. This was a gripping book taking me into an 80s teen slasher movie.

Tiffany is being stalked and people around her are being hurt or murdered. There’s many suspects that kept me guessing on who was doing this. A great read for fans of slasher and/or whodunnit books!

I received an advanced copy. This is my honest review.

[Bailey]

Thank you to Sebastian Gregory and publishers for a copy of this quick read!
I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
It feels very nostalgic to me and I wasn’t even born in the 80s.
There was a lot more gore and death than I thought there would be. It was still interesting though.
The Phantom was certainly creepy.
I recommend to people who like slashers, thrillers, and 80s/90s horror.

-1980s
-slasher
-masked killer/stalker
-shopping mall

[Maranda]

A great book that took me back to the 80s. The horror was good and I liked the characters.
Tiffany, the FMC, was the smart 80s teenager who the Phantom was after. She was cool and had a terrible family. I loved how that never got her down.
I recommend this book to anyone wanting to go back to the 80s. Loving horror is also a plus.

[Miss 80's Books]

Nostalgic Slasher Vibes

If you know me, you know I'm a Gen X girlie through and through. So when a friend gifted me "Phantom of the Galleria" and said this will be up my nostalgic alley, I dove in.

If you grew up renting Chopping Mall from the video store, devouring Fear Street books, and treating the mall like the place to be on a Saturday night, this book is pure nostalgia with a body count.

Go in knowing as little as possible, it makes the twists so much more fun. I'm notoriously bad at figuring them out, so I was happily along for the ride until the very end.

Now excuse me while I daydream about an Orange Julius, the food court, and wasting hours at the mall without a single text message to interrupt me.

[Kerri]

I received a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Here are some highlights from the notes I took while reading.
- From the first sentence, you are immediately immersed in the setting.
- Lots of fun 80s pop culture references throughout the story.
- Loved the homages to the original Phantom of the Opera
- Great tension building, felt and eerie sense of unease while reading
- LOVED the slasher turn midway through. My jaw fell open in surprise as I read
- The music references could act as an unofficial soundtrack while reading
- The twists and turns throughout kept me guessing who the phantom was right up until the reveal
Overall a great read and I would read more by this author in the future.

[Tina]

I'm a big fan of 80s slashers, and this book had all the things I love about them. The 80s vibes were great, the shopping centre setting worked so well, and the whole thing felt like it could have been an old-school B-grade slasher movie (the best ones).

The pace moved without dragging, and I read this in one go. There were plenty of surprises along the way, and I loved that I didn't figure out who the killer was until only a chapter before the reveal. That doesn't happen very often because I usually figure them out right away, and it made the ending even more satisfying.

This was just a really fun, entertaining read. If you love 80s horror, masked killers, mysteries and that nostalgic slasher feel, this is definitely worth picking up.

[Talya]

Phantom of the Galleria is a nostalgic nod to classic slasher films and mall culture. It felt like a blend of Scream, a Christopher Pike book, and RL Stine’s Fear Street. As someone born in the 80s, I loved all the throwbacks, especially the music. The story was full of twists that had me second-guessing everyone. I couldn’t put the novel down and flew through it.

[Mari]

If you ever worked in a mall, love slasher movies, and want to read about a smart, likeable Final Girl then you’ll love this novel.

[Jamee]

This is a pre-release ARC review.

Phantom of the Galleria is exactly the kind of slasher that feels like it was made for readers who miss the atmosphere of classic 1980s horror. From the very first pages, the book pulls you into the neon-lit world of the Crestfield Galleria, where the mall itself feels glamorous, eerie, and quietly dangerous. The prologue immediately sets the tone with suspense and dread.

Tiffany is a great protagonist. She's smart, ambitious, and easy to root for. She feels like more than just a “final girl” stereotype because her struggles with family, money, and wanting something bigger for her life make her feel real. Her relationships with Corey, Zane, Trish, and the people around the mall help the story feel grounded, while the growing paranoia around the Phantom keeps the tension rising.

What works best is the atmosphere. The details create such a vivid setting that the mall becomes its own character. There’s a strong Scream meets Fear Street vibe, but with its own personality.

The mystery around the Phantom is handled well because it balances urban legend with genuine menace.

If I had one small critique, it would be that some middle sections linger a little longer on day-to-day mall life before the horror fully escalates, but even that helps build suspense and makes the danger feel more personal when it arrives.

Overall, this is a fun horror novel with suspense, memorable characters, and a setting that horror fans will love. If you enjoy slashers, final girls, and stories where ordinary places become terrifying, this is absolutely worth reading.

[BookishDogMamaKate]

Today I read Phantom of the Galleria by Sebastian Gregory. I burned through it is more accurate. Pulled right in from the first few pages.

This trip back to 1986 was full of precious nostalgia. A mall, much like the Seneca Mall of my teen years. The familiar stores. Sitting with friends around the central fireplace near the food court, the hair scrunchies. And each time a song was mentioned it played in my head. And sometimes, the mall was a haven for kids that wanted to delay going back home.

What we didn’t have was a Phantom.
And good grief was did this book keep me guessing! The armchair detective in me kept adding people to the suspect list, taking them off, re-adding them, adding new people. The twists!! So so well done!

I can’t give too much away. You will just have to take the quick trip back to the 80s yourself. You will LOVE it! Highly recommended!

I received an advanced reader copy from the author and this is my voluntary and honest review.

[Lauren]

—This review will be on Goodreads, Amazon, and LibraryThing if book is present on those sites. —

A quick, fun read set in a glamorous mall being stalked by a masked killer. I really enjoyed all the different characters, and even in the short amount of time I got to know them I was sad to see some of them go. I also liked getting to see the different POVs during important moments. Tiffany really stuck with me. Her hesitation and fear felt real, and her easy relationships with others was nice to read. I wonder if we'll ever see her, or the Phantom, again.

Speaking of the Phantom—talk about creepy. While I would have liked to see the book be a little longer, with maybe more investigation parts, the short amount of time for escalation really hammers just how unsettling the Phantom is and how they strike.

I hope to see more from this author!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Anastacia]

Tiffany works at a mall that had a terrible fire 5 years before. She is friends with two young men who also work at the mall. Soon people are dying, and there is a masked phantom.

A fun retro read. I half expected the killer to sing 😂. This reminded me of Fear Street.

[Melanie Houghton]

This is a great flashback to the 80’s. I loved all the references to the music of that time. And this slasher story takes you right back to the slasher movies of that time. It’s a can’t put down with a twist. The reason for just 4 stars is some of the endings was reaching and took to long.

[Sahag]

A fun, blood-soaked 80s slasher that kept me guessing.

[Leslee]

such a fun trip back to the 80s.